Dog Digs up Purple Heart and Returns it to Owner

A dog had his day at a ceremony where a Purple Heart it dug up was returned to the family of its owner.

The Denver Post reports that Smuckers discovered a Purple Heart medal belonging to Korean War Veteran Richmond L. Litman. The medal and Litman's family were reunited at a special ceremony held at Fort Logan Cemetery. Dogs are not typically allowed on the cemetery's grounds, but an exception was made for the exceptional mutt.

The medal was first lost 25 years ago. Smuckers discovered the medal in 2004, but it would take 11 years to reunite the medal with Litman's family.

Smuckers' owners, Steve Jankousky and Tom Unterwagner, had tried to find the owner by looking for people with the last name of Litman that lived nearby and calling to see if they had lost a Purple Heart. After a number of unsuccessful efforts, the owners discovered a group called Purple Hearts Reunited.

Purple Hearts Reunited is a Vermont-based organization whose primary purpose is the connecting of veterans with lost Purple Hearts. The Military Order of the Purple Heart is another organization with a similar mission that was also involved in the ceremony.

Litman joined the US Army in 1948 and was injured in North Korea in 1950. The location where the medal was found was four blocks from where Listman once lived. It is unknown how Listman and his medal became separated, and the medal buried.  

At the ceremony, Smuckers received a bone with a purple ribbon for all of his efforts.